Marketing and practice development tips for estate planning and elder law attorneys.

August 2011

August 31, 2011

One of the key fundamentals of marketing is to know your competition. If you are an estate planning or elder law attorney, have you taken the time to survey your competitive landscape? Do you know who your top competitors REALLY are? You want to define your true competition so you can finely tune your marketing messages. In other words, your marketing should help you BEAT the competition ... but in order do that, we first need to know who (or what) are your true competitors.

Let's take a quick look at some of the easy answers.

LegalZoom (and other online, do-it-yourself document services): According to their website, LegalZoom's documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they boast more than 1 million satisfied customers. A Kansas customer with one real estate deed transfer can create a "comprehensive" living trust package at LegalZoom for $553 (plus $14.99/month for ongoing support).

Financial Advisors: How many financial advisors do you know who say they practice estate planning? How often have you been approached by a financial advisor asking you to draft specific documents for their clients, based, apparently, on their legal advice? Yes, some of these "allied professionals" are somewhat competitive.

Other Attorneys: Do you know which other firms dominate in your area? We run a competitive analysis for our clients, showing which firms dominate in online search for their market area. The results -- right there in black and white -- are often quite eye-opening.

But be careful. Don't focus too much on these players, because they are not your true competition. I tell my clients not to worry too much about losing business to online document providers. The person who will trust their personal legacy and their financial life's work to an online document provider was never planning on coming into your office anyway. And if he did, you likely would wish he hadn't. I'd love to know the demographics of that user base, but I am pretty firm in my belief that they qualify as your "ideal" client on only very rare occasions. I believe the online document boom is bringing quasi-legal services to a previously un-served market. In other words, they are not eating into your market, but rather expanding it.

You will waste your time competing against online documents, financial advisors or even other attorneys. In fact, your marketing should position you such that each of those "competitors" actually become members of YOUR team (we can discuss how in a future blog post).

Your true competition is a little more challenging.

You are competing in the marketplace for the DISCRETIONARY TIME and SPENDING of your prospective client.

Let me rephrase, so you won't forget:

Your marketing competes for the Discretionary TIME and SPENDING of your prospective client.

DISCRETIONARY TIME

Consider these numbers -- the average U.S. household spends .06 percent of their time purchasing all professional and personal care services, as compared to 3.65 percent of their time in leisure / recreational activities ... or .36 percent of their time purchasing consumer goods ... or 1.91 percent of their time watching television. If you want to know more about how and where Mr. and Mrs. US Consumer spend their time, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

Remember -- if you want people to invest their discretionary time attending one of your marketing workshops, you will have to give them a compelling reason to do so. If you want them to schedule an initial consultation with you, even a FREE one -- remember that the cost is never FREE to them. The cost is the allocation of their discretionary time. Again, you are going to have to give people a compelling reason to invest their limited discretionary time in listening to you, and eventually planning their estate.

DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

Would you like to know how the U.S. Consumer spends their money? After paying for food, housing, clothing, transportation, health care, entertainment and insurance, the average U.S. Consumer has $5,127 left over for "everything else." (Click on the image for a full-size view of that eye-opening infographic.)

Now, these numbers are based on averages, and your ideal client is not the average U.S. Consumer -- you are typically marketing to an older, wealthier demographic. But I think the point is well-taken that dollars spent on legal services must be allocated away from other discretionary expenditures. Your marketing message must be compelling if you are to "beat" that kind of competition!

The Moral of the StoryDon't worry too much about LegalZoom, over-stepping financial advisors or the law firm across town. That is not your true competition. In fact, to the extent that these "competitors" help get your prospective client's attention focused on the need to do estate planning, they actually are helping you. Consider them on your side. Of course, you will want to differentiate yourself, your firm, and your services from these other players ... but you are all up against even more formidable foes.

Your marketing must cut through the clutter, get noticed, get remembered, and be compelling enough to overcome the endless demands people have on their TIME and SPENDING.

How do you do this? You will need a systematic approach, strategically deployed. You will need compelling messages that resonate with target markets. The old "Attend a FREE Estate Planning Workshop," is not going to cut it. If that's your approach, I assure you, the competition will destroy you!

August 30, 2011

Implementation of a Strategic Marketing System - The Essential Solution®

I talk with attorneys every day about marketing. The first question I ask them is "What is your current marketing strategy?" far and away the most common response is "Most of my business comes from referral sources." What does that even mean? How does that answer the question about a marketing strategy? What it sounds like to me is "My strategy is I meet with people then hope they send me business". Sorry guys, "hope" is not a strategy. The Essential Solution® provides a strategic marketing system that is battle tested, monitored and tweaked for the best possible result. Your system is developed based on a marketing plan and your individual practice development goals.

Nearly 100 Years (Collectively) Estate Planning Marketing ExperienceWhat works? What doesn't work? One of the greatest benefits of working with Integrity Marketing Solutions is your ability to tap in to the years of experience we have marketing ESTATE PLANNING and ELDER LAW attorneys. Between myself, Jennifer, Kyle, Roz and April we have racked up almost a century's worth of knowledge helping attorneys just like you grow their business. The cliche' "been there...done that" applies here. When you have a question like "How do I continue to get referrals from financial advisors when I'm licensed to sell financial products?" ... we have an answer and can turn what you might see as a "problem" into a marketing opportunity.

The SELECT NewsletterIt's been around since 1995 and, with out fail, has been written, printed and mailed every single month since then. This marketing piece is a legend in the industry and is still bringing business into the estate planning conference room to this day. The SELECT newsletter is also a staple marketing tool in The Essential Solution®.

Marketing CampaignsWant to work with business owners? How about conduct educational workshops for referral sources? Maybe your a "workshop guy" and want to provide consumer workshops consistently? Whatever the case may be we have developed a marketing campaign to help you achieve your practice development goals. When one of our clients recognizes an opportunity or wants to further develop a specific niche in their market we can help them by implementing a comprehensive marketing campaign.

Harnessing The Power of A TeamWhen you hire Integrity Marketing Solutions you are not simply purchasing a product. We do not take your order and say " Thanks for your order! Good Luck!". We (our entire IMS team) want to see you be wildly successful. We ask that each team member take personal ownership in the success of each of our clients. This means that you have hired marketing professionals with a vested interest in the success of your practice. We want you to be so successful that you tell your friends about how awesome we are!

If you would like find out more about becoming an Integrity Marketing Solutions client feel free to contact me! I'd love to hear about your practice and your practice development goals and discuss specific ways we can help YOU grow YOUR business!

August 29, 2011

Do you ever get really excited about something and cannot wait to share it with everyone you know? Do you have great information that you think everyone can benefit from knowing about, but aren’t really sure how to get the word out? Sharing news used to be reserved to coffee shops, hair salons and long phone calls with a friend or family member. Not anymore! With all the Social Media outlets available sharing information is just another normal part of the day. If you aren’t emailing it, texting it, Tweeting it or posting it on Facebook, you may never get through to anyone about your great news.

Integrity Marketing understands this and we go above and beyond to help our clients share their news each month. For starters, we offer a powerful internet marketing campaign in the form of an e-newsletter that includes monthly articles on Estate Planning issues as well as personal messages from each law firm to help “share the news” of what’s going on in their neck of the woods. What a great way to email your contacts each month to keep them up to speed on your practice!

But we don’t stop with just an email. We’ve also implemented a new Social Share Bar to the e-Newsletters so that your readers can share it or “Like” it on Facebook, Tweet it , and post it to LinkedIn. Just imagine how fast the news will spread if your readers are sharing it to their friends and family! We tested the new share bar on Attorney Kellen Bryant’s e-Newsletter to see how it all works. Kellen is one of our newer clients who is already seeing great results from his marketing campaign with IMS. You can view his August e-Newsletter here. Once Kellen’s e-Newsletter was emailed to his contacts, we made sure to share it on the Social Media outlets and on his firm’s Facebook page. In no time, Kellen’s e-Newsletter had 50 additional views! Not only did Kellen share his news to contacts by email, but 50 people from Social Media outlets also caught up with Kellen’s practice.

So if you’ve got something to say about your practice but you’re not sure how to let everyone know, give us a call and we’ll help you get the word out! Estate Planning is a very important part of anyone’s life, and your contacts are ready for you to “share the news” about how your practice can help. For more information, call James at 877-352-2021 x.0 or email james@estateplanningpartners.com.

August 26, 2011

Do you ever look around at all the materialist goods your neighbor (or biggest competitor in business) has and wonder how they have it all? When it comes to your marketing plan, you need to keep an eye on your competition and keep up with “The Joneses.” Look right over their fence and into their backyard and see what they are doing. Then always stay one step ahead. You see maybe - just maybe – you’ll see that they are doing something to get all that business and generate all that revenue. So in business, it’s always good to be a nosey neighbor. Most business owners that are successful today and are meeting their financial goals have one thing in common: instead of cutting their marketing budget, they are increasing their marketing budget and keeping their eye on their competition. They are making significant moves with their marketing efforts. Some marketing efforts will work and some won’t, but grab onto the ones that do, stick with them, and you will benefit.

But we all know that, right? We’ve all heard that one: ‘You need to increase your marketing budget.’ Give this thought a shot for me for a minute. When you’re marketing you want to use the resources that will give you the greatest opportunities, increase your sales and give you a competitive advantage. Sit and come up with your firms SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), put your marketing action into place and then go for it to be wildly successful!

When it comes to marketing your business, always keep up with those Joneses. Never stop snooping around to see what they are doing, keep your eye on them and stay one step ahead. When you do, you’ll become The Joneses of your town!

August 25, 2011

Earlier this year I spoke at a breakfast meeting for the AAA-CPA at The Heckerling Institute about the the emerging power of video for your estate planning and elder law marketing.

I told the group that a 2010 study by Forrester Research found that properly-deployed videos were 53 times more likely to receive a first-page ranking on Google than traditional non-video web pages. I also said that there is a "window of opportunity" now as Google is currently in love with video, and most of your competitors are not -- yet.

That was in January. Since then, video is booming! New studies confirm the trend -- video dominates Google search!

Still, the fact is that most estate planning and elder law attorneys have not yet properly deployed video to boost their website rankings on Google. I spoke to an attorney a few weeks ago who had some lovely video shot last year, but over the course of the past 12 months he has only tracked 16 views. And, I suspect those 16 views were recorded by the folks who uploaded his video to YouTube.

So, what's the disconnect? How is it that research shows video is highly popular among internet users, highly effective for search engine optimization, and highly successful at boosting website conversion ... and yet so many attorneys either ignore video, or have anemic results using it?

I watched a cooking show on television one day, and thought the chocolate cake they baked looked absolutely delicious. I downloaded the recipe from the internet, and tried to recreate the cake for my own family. I only ran into a few snags -- I didn't actually have all of the ingredients, so I tried some substitutions. I used margarine spread instead of butter, skim milk instead of cream. I wasn't exactly sure what they meant by "cream the sugar with the egg," so I just threw it all into the blender.

My cake was nothing like the one on television. It was flat and chewy instead of fluffy and light.

This is what I see happening with website video. Everybody knows somebody who can shoot a video -- heck you can shoot video with your smart phone! YouTube is free, and anyone can get an account, set up a channel and upload their phone-cam videos. YouTube will give you the embed code, and if you slap that on your website somewhere -- there you go! Website video!

And if you get 16 views over the course of the year ... well, I think you got just what you deserved, and then some.

We are working with clients to strategically launch and deploy video as an integratal aspect of The Essential Solution® marketing system. Our clients are landing on Google's page one, with SEO-enabled video on their websites, getting hundreds of views, and new clients.

Join us for a free webinar Sept. 14th --

Video Dominates Google Search Results!

Find out how you can use video to get better results from your internet marketing, and drive more revenue to your practice.

August 24, 2011

I monitor a lot of blogs, it's my job. I follow other marketers and thought leaders in the industry, and I also monitor the individual blogs of many of your colleagues -- perhaps even yours!

Through the years, I have watched more than a few blogs explode into total train wrecks. I wanted to call the blog writers and say, "Drop your mouse now, and Move. Away .From. The. Keyboard."

But, you know, it's hard to turn away from a train wreck, and I found myself hypnotized by the sheer magnitude of the disasters unfolding.

To avoid that kind of public humiliation on your own blog, follow these rules:

Manage your distribution feeds. If you do not understand how a Facebook application works, do not install it! If you are not careful, your blog post will appear multiple times -- and this is more than just annoying to your "friends!" These multiple re-posts scream out to everyone that you have no clue what you are doing, they make you look foolish and unprofessional. They also tell Google that you don't know what you're doing, raise a red flag that you might be a robotic spammer, can get your WEBSITE (yes, your WEBSITE, not just your blog) knocked off of Google's index, and get your Facebook account permanently disabled. There's no shame in not knowing what you're doing -- but there is abundant shame in forging ahead anyway and sending the same blog post 3 or 4 times to the same people on the same day. If you can't figure it out, get help.

Post to your blog once a day -- not 12 times! When I see several posts from the same author, day after day, I get the impression that someone thought, "If a little does a little good, a lot will do a lot of good!" I don't care how brilliantly you blog, I do not want to hear from you more than once -- or at most twice -- per day. Please stop. Also -- you cannot make up for the fact that you didn't post at all for the first half of the year by posting three or four times a day this month. Again, you will irritate your "friends," people will start to UNLIKE you, Google will think you are a spammer, and you will send your website into Google's oblivion ... and perhaps get your Facebook account disabled if you try this little stunt. Do not do it. Post once per day. A little does a lot of good. A lot is just too much.

Do not re-post articles that you find on the web, verbatim. This, my friends, is plagiarism, also known as copyright infringement. Reading articles on the web that relate to estate planning is great, and using those articles to spark ideas for your own blog is terrific, giving attribution to the original author with a short quote and a link is even better. But copying word-for-word? Come on! They told you that was cheating in high school. Your blog is supposed to ENHANCE your professionalism, not destroy it!

Finally, have a plan. Don't post to your blog in a haphazard fashion ... one day writing about gun control and the next day about estate planning, and then about global warming. People expect your blog to have an organized theme of some sort. Your plan should include providing valuable information to your readers, and -- when appropriate -- directing them back to your website to learn more. Your blog should drive traffic to your website where you can extend the relationship, and eventually those blog readers should be motivated to become new clients. Those disaster blogs? They made no sense. They were not cohesive. I really have no clue as to why those people were blogging. I suspect they read an article on marketing that advocated blogging, and they got the idea that throwing a bunch of junk onto their blog would somehow magically help their business. It won't. It didn't. Have a plan. Or get a plan.

I know that business blogging is hard work. But honestly, if you don't know what to do, or how to do it, get some help. You know those poor souls who show up for American Idol tryouts, and then wind up on television for public humiliation? Haven't you thought that some of those poor folks should have just stayed home? You don't want to be like them. The world wide web is a public place, try to get your act in order before you take it public!

By the way, we offer a cohesive, integrated blog marketing plan as part of The Essential Solution®. Our plan includes professionally-written, marketing-oriented blog content delivered to you for every single work day of the month (one per day), along with blog customization, optimization and monthly training. To find out more, call James (1-877-352-2021, ext. 0)-- he will be more than happy to show you how an integrated marketing system will grow practice, and avoid these kinds of public humiliations!

August 22, 2011

Today is my first day back from a much-needed vacation. My husband, David, and I spent 10 wonderful days in the cool Colorado Rockies -- fly fishing, biking, hiking and just relaxing.

While traveling, we stayed at five different lodging establishments, including one bed & breakfast, one condominium, one lodge and two upscale hotels. Our accommodations at all five establishments were outstanding. I would rank each one high on my satisfaction scale. But two of the five stand out as places I truly hated to leave, for whom I will make strong recommendations to my friends, and plan to return to again and again.

Why? Among all five all-star players, what made these two stand out?

Their people were more than accommodating. They went beyond simply meeting our needs. With friendly smiles and cheerful attitudes -- from the check-in staff to housekeeping -- everyone seemed intent on making sure we were delighted.

Here is what I noticed at the three also-ran establishments: a casual attitude about service and etiquette. For example, we ate in the lovely hotel restaurant of one of the also-rans. Our server repeatedly came by our table and said, "Everything okay here?"

At the stellar establishment, the server kept our water glasses filled and frequently asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

At the stellar establishment, when we thanked someone for their service, they replied, "My Pleasure."

At the also-rans, when we thanked someone for their service, we got a friendly, "No Problem!"

Really? No problem? I am so pleased to be informed that my presence in your establishment is, thankfully, not a problem for you!

The stellar establishments made an impression on us with a delight-the-customer attitude that was pervasive throughout the staff, not just the official "greeters."

I challenge you this week to listen to the conversations between your staff members -- as they relate to each other, to you, and to your customers. While you're at it, perform the same listening check on yourself.

Has the "No Problem" language -- and attitude -- cropped up in your firm? If you hear that phrase, "No Problem," I challenge you to call it out. Ban it from your office, and replace it with "My Pleasure."

Satisfied customers are just that -- customers. They probably won't complain, and they may come back if they need more services.

Delighted customers become clients, and clients make referrals. Not only do they come back to you again, but they delightedly refer you to their friends, family and acquaintances.

Now, just to prove that I am true to my word, let me make a couple of recommendations. If you are traveling to southern Colorado, treat yourself to a nice long stay at the Wyndham Pagosa in Pagosa Springs. When in Vail, you will get red carpet treatment at The Sebastian.

August 19, 2011

Here we are, smack dab in the middle of 3Q 2011! Are you on track with your revenue goals? If you are, great! Especially in today’s economy! But if you’re like some business owners, you may not be. Or you may be behind just a little. If you’re behind, you need to do something about it now. What will it take to get you back on track? Maybe just one focused push and your back in the game. Fourth quarter is just around the corner.

Here are just a few ideas that may help:

One morning, when you first get to the office (before the phone starts ringing and people start coming through the door) grab a cup of coffee and crunch the numbers. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you are closer than you think. If not, figure out exactly what the shortfall is, and what you need in the door to get your numbers back where they need to be.

Have some cash flow “Speed and Agility” conversation with your team. Find out what’s on their desk that they can complete that will bring in money. It may be just a simple follow up call or to complete a simple task, but they haven’t had time. They may not realize it’s a priority or that its revenue generating. Pull together as a team to help get the task done.

Go online and Google financial advisors in your area. Make a lunch appointment with anyone new in your area. You may be surprised at how many new advisors appear since your last search.

Do at least one thing each day towards your marketing and relationship building. Make a call to a referral source, blog, schedule a workshop or take a strategic alliance to lunch.

It may time before your efforts pay off, but it can also be just what you need to push that number where you need it to be for your third quarter goals. Or, make for a fabulous fourth quarter! Making sure your meeting your financial goals all comes down to consistent marketing efforts. Are yours consistent? Consistent marketing reaps big rewards! It is believed that it takes 7 “touches” before a lead is ready to move. And that move may take up to a year. Create a consistent marketing campaign to sprinkle those touches. Consider e-newsletters, hand written postcards, social media, phone calls and lunch dates. Figure out what works best for you, commit to it and stick to it! Before long, you will start seeing it make a difference in your numbers.

August 17, 2011

What's all this hubbub about video? Do you have optimized video on your website? Is your video indexed on YouTube? If not, you may be missingout on the millions of dollars that online video viewers shelled out to retail and non-retail companies alike.

Web visitors are 4-7 times more likely to respond to dynamic video as opposed to static text and graphics.

Americans viewed an average of 4.6 billion online video ads per month in 2010.

70% of internet viewers watch video or downloaded video online.

More than 25 million people on YouTube have a degree in higher education.

Online video viewers in the U.S. alone are expected to grow to a baffling 190 million in 2012.

Why is web video necessary on my website? What are the benefits of creating effective web video?

As an attorney, you may be wondering how to communicate with clients. You don't want to invest in something that doesn’t work. Video Creates Rapport and Generates Trust

Video is second only to one-on-one conversations because it generates rapport and trust. Online video is an ideal relationship building tool. Studies have long shown that more than 93% of all communication is not based on the words used, but rather the nonverbal signals and voice tonality that goes along with them.

However, you don’t have to pay video a yearly salary like you might a very good salesperson; once we have shot, edited, uploaded and optimized your video, it will be delivered to each and every new prospect—for life! You never have to pay again.

Numbers Don’t Lie

According to a recent study done by Deloitte LLP, online video was ranked as #3 of all marketing mediums. Industry experts predict that if rates of online video viewing continue as they have been, 66% percent of the world's mobile data traffic should be contained in video by 2014.

Can you afford to add video to your website? The REAL question is - Can You Afford NOT To?

Videos on your site will help boost your ranking in search results and is proven to convert more potential customers into buyers. By producing your online videos, Integrity Marketing Solutions can help create more business for you, and your investment can be measured using the metrics we track for you each and every month.

August 15, 2011

I was working the other day and got an e-mail through my Linked In account from one of my contacts who wanted to talk about my new position and what I do. I remembered meeting him at an event a couple of months ago, but I couldn’t really remember much more? What is it that he does again? I called him and we talked (for no more than 20 minutes) about what it is that I do, and he told me more about what he does. Come to find out, and we can definitely work together. And more importantly, we can help each other’s clients out! And isn’t that really what building these relationships is all about? Building your relationships builds your business.

We all have people on our list that we know, and we work with them consistently, and we refer people to them knowing they will get the job done. But what about all the other requests? Your client asks a question you don’t know the answer to, it’s outside your practice area, but you may know someone who you can refer them to. You look through your Linked In, Facebook and Twitter connections and you’re not sure which one to pick.

If you really want to build your business relationships, go through your list and pick one person each week that you’re going to call and reconnect with. You can schedule a “Virtual Coffee Date” and talk to each other about what you do, and how you can help each other. Take your relationship one step further and really come up with a referral network you, your clients and your business can depend on. Interact with your social media relationships and have a daily presence. According to Linked In they now have 120 Million + professional users. Facebook claims 750 Million users. As for YouTube, they are now the second largest search engine next to Google!

If you aren’t present and interacting with your connections, they won't remember you. And even worse, they will probably find someone else. I know there will be a time when someone I come across in a conversation will need the services for my reconnection last week, and when they do, he’ll stick out more than the others, and more than likely get the referral.